Watching the NHL playoffs one can’t help but notice how the advertising landscape has changed. Same-gender couples are not only featured in ads they appear to be the dominant representation of relationships in these ads. Oh, there are still heterosexual couples featured, they are just usually purposely mixed-race couples.
The shift in individuals featured in advertising while not representative of our population does not really bother me a great deal. It has given me and my white male friends an opportunity to engage in a new game – spot the white guy. There is a hierarchy of points in this game to spotting a white male.
The point system is below:
- gay and single: 1 point
- gay and in a relationship: 2 points
- heterosexual and married or in a relationship (biracial): 3 points
- heterosexual and married or in a relationship (non biracial): 5 points
- heterosexual single male: 10 points (1 bonus point if the white guy in this ad is intelligent)
I am not going to march in the streets, post protest TikTok videos or boycott these companies to condemn the obvious virtue signaling advertisers are part of by checking diversity boxes. (full disclosure, I have boycotted all Gillette products since this ad went viral). I can recognize a diversity agenda in advertising but if it doesn’t really have a major impact on me or society I will chuckle at the obvious and move on (note, I still take delight by the result in over-the-top attempts to pander to people who are not even part of a company’s target audience while simultaneously alienating their core customers. The resulting decline in sales could be predicted by a first year marketing student. I am looking at you Bud Light and Target!)
Now, notice I said if something doesn’t impact me (or my family) I am not too fussed over how companies all are in lock-step with this woke agenda. Well Tim Hortons, you have stepped into that world. No, it’s not the fact that most of your ads are not really accurately representing our population. Tim’s has made the egregious error of messing with my hockey cards for no real reason other than to promote an agenda! Big mistake!
To what exactly am I referring? Well as the saying goes “a picture is worth a thousand words”.
This week I ordered my one milk/no sugar medium coffee and as I often do when they are available, I also buy a pack of hockey cards. Now, I already find it annoying that you only get three cards in a pack. I also am further ticked off that Tim’s has upped the price from $1 to $1.50 for the current series. However, the final straw may be that the company, in a far-too obvious attempt to show how virtuous they are, have started including more and more cards featuring PWHL players. When I opened my pack, I was quietly optimistic that I may find a card featuring McDavid, Bedard or maybe just maybe Gretzky. Instead, I was greeted by three cards with PWHL players. I was more than a little disappointed. I was ticked!
Now before anyone reading this goes to the typical tropes and starts calling me a “sexist” or “misogynist” let me explain my annoyance with this agenda being pushed by my go-to coffee spot. First, remember the cost for these cards. Paying a buck was bad enough but increasing the cost by 50 per cent is a bit of sticker shock in this current economy.
The cost could previously be at least partially justified because of the collectible value of some of these cards. I have been lucky enough to open packs in the past with single cards which have a retail value in the low three figures. Most of the cards are worth less than what I pay but at least there is the hope I get one of those higher value cards.
Here is my beef with the PWHL cards. Each pack features an insert card. These are the most valuable cards. With all due respect to the women players, the collectors are looking for McDavid, Bedard and Matthews (well, maybe not Matthews ;)) not Nurse, Poulin and Knight. The former trio are the cards which will hold their value, long term. Truth be told, I have checked the current value of the PWHL cards and some have shockingly high values. That said, any collector knows this value has been artificially inflated and they will drop like the value of an Auston Matthews card after another first round playoff exit.
Tim Horton’s should have proposed an all PWHL set (maybe with a few NHL legends included to increase interest). Shoehorning the PWHL cards into a set which, as previously stated, are more than a little overpriced will only sour collectors. The collectors are the people who drive the sales of these cards and like it or not I predict a backlash in the form of reduced sales of the current set. I am sure Tim’s braintrust will never admit their error but the proof will be in sales.
I know people will say “you should support women’s sport and just suck it up.” Why in the ghost of Guy Lafleur should I have to spend money to support anything, including women’s hockey? I don’t support AHL hockey. My money – my choice.
So in closing, I have one piece of advice for Timmies. Stop screwing with my hockey cards and stick to making coffee!!
One Dad With a Blog
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